The star-studded production of All the Way has found its Hubert Humphrey! Broadway alum Robert Petkoff will play the 38th U.S. Vice President in the new drama by Robert Schenkkan. The actor is stepping in for Reed Birney, who played the role in the A.R.T. production in Cambridge, MA, last fall. Directed by Bill Rauch, All the Way will begin performances February 10, 2014 and open March 6 at Broadway’s Neil Simon Theatre. Additional casting will be announced shortly.
Petkoff’s previous Broadway credits include Anything Goes, Ragtime, Spamalot, Fiddler on the Roof and Epic Proportions. His London credits include The Royal Family, starring Dame Judi Dench. His film and TV appearances include Milk & Money, Vice Versa, Loverboy and The Good Wife.
Petkoff will appear alongside previously announced Emmy winner Bryan Cranston as Lyndon B. Johnson, Michael McKean as J. Edgar Hoover, Brandon J. Dirden as Martin Luther King, Jr., Rob Campbell as Governor George Wallace, Tony nominee John McMartin as Richard Russell and Roslyn Ruff as Coretta Scott King and Fannie Lou Hamer.
Beginning with the Kennedy assassination, All the Way details the first year of Johnson’s presidency, focusing on his involvement with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The drama begins on Air Force One on November 23, 1963, as the plane transports the body of President Kennedy back to Washington, D.C., and Johnson summons his courage to take on the role of commander in chief.